[Poll] How do you choose your card?

[theMan]

Rollo.

 

[VIAN]

Most definitely best bang for buck. I prefer ATI cards, but would I buy an ATI card if a similar performing Nvidia card was significantly cheaper? No. They are both good companies.

I'm not a big fan of the mid-range cards since I like to play with most settings turned on and on a resolution no lower than 1024x768. I like the low High-End. Around the 400 dollar range.

 

[akugami]

nVidia fan is listed twice...

Anyhows. I usually skip a generation of video cards before buying. One of my major priorities is bang for the buck. So I try to choose a decent solution, not always the top of the line but definitely high end. Then I tough it out until a very compelling product comes out. If I don't skip a generation/refresh then that means the upgrade must be very very good.

EDIT: With video graphics performance what it is, I'm now looking at features such as encoding/decoding of video.

 

[Captante]

I go for the best performance, but I always try to temper my decision with good timing so I get the maximum life out of my purchase... I snagged a 6800GT before the Ultra was available & its still serving me well today, well into the "gravy" stage of its life IMO... it wasn't cheap at the time, but the "bang for the back" factor was still very high because its lasted so long.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Fastest video card in the $200 region, but if both companies are equal then I lean towards ATi until they fix the Far Cry shadow problem.

 

[Steelski]

I would usually do my research on nearly foolproof mods that dont damage the card. e.g 9500 to 9700 mod, x800 gto2, things like that interest me a lot more. same with CPU´s. 2500xp and so on and so forth.

 

[SynthDude2001]

In recent years I try to go for the card with the best performance/features in the price range I'm willing to pay for, and usually it ends up being a near high-end card. Picked up a 9700 Pro for $200 in August 2003, and a 6800GT for $350 in July 2004. Skipped upgrading this year since I didn't really have the money, needed a CPU upgrade more (was still on an Athlon XP), and I can still play most games I play pretty well at 1680x1050. I will probably be looking to upgrade again this summer, and I'll be looking for the best performance and IQ and video features (transcoding/encoding acceleration) for hopefully $450 or less... (notice how my price range increases with every purchase )

 

[dug777]

um the fastest card i can afford, but if i had a choice between an essentially identically performing ATI and Nvidia card i have to admit i would lean towards getting the ATI, simply based on the experience i've had with my 9800 pro and 6600GT in recent times...

(oh, and the nvidia farcry shadow bug drives me nuts )